An Unexpected Star
by Renewed Fangirl
Summary: Sebastian Smythe had everything and Kurt Hummel had nothing. At least that's how it appeared to Kurt. Somehow, Kurt's Broadway dreams seemed to have been achieved by someone unlikely, and Kurt has to reflect on what this meant for his own life.
1. Chapter 1

It had been a difficult couple of years for Kurt Hummel. He was currently living in a small apartment in Bushwick, the same one he had lived in with Rachel. She had moved out a couple months ago and the rest of his friends seemed to drop by less often now. His relationship with Blaine was strained. He didn't know how to describe it. They had drifted apart and tried to remain friends, but it seemed that even Blaine was too busy to check in on Kurt.

It's not that he was complaining about his friends' success. He was there on opening night when Rachel landed Maureen on Rent. Sure, it was off-Broadway, but it was still a huge step for her career. He went to open mic nights to listen to Blaine perform his original songs. When Blaine had been signed to some small record company out in LA, he was sad to watch him go but knew it was for the best. Santana would stop by to update Kurt on her life, with a different girl each time. She was always travelling and could only see him once or twice a year. Oh, the life of a professional dancer. It wasn't as if he wasn't busy with his own career himself. He was a writer for Vogue magazine, had been for the last five years. He was working his way up, slowly, very slowly, but surely. He had sketchbooks full of his own original designs, but he couldn't get anyone to pay any attention to them. For the time being, they occupied the drawers of his desk, waiting to be noticed by someone important.

As he sat on his couch, scrolling through options on Netflix, he tried not to think back to his college years when his apartment was always full of people and commotion. He was 25 now and staying in on another Friday night. His father had called him earlier to check in as he always did. It was a nice replacement for Friday night dinners. Burt and Carole were always happy to hear about his day and any news in his life, exciting or not. He had turned down multiple blind dates set up by Jess, one of his fellow writers at Vogue. After years of meaningless boyfriends who were ultimately afraid of commitment or had some other nonredeemable flaw, Kurt had given relationships a break. His excuse had always been that he was too busy focusing on his career to date, but here he was on a Friday night, finding nothing worth watching on Netflix. He exited out of Netflix and moved to YouTube. He was in the mood to watch some bootleg musicals. He hardly had time to go see live performances, and he couldn't afford to go watch his favorite shows. He found the most recent _The Book of Mormon_ performance and hunkered in for a night of singing along to his favorite songs and judging the actors who would never replace the original cast (No one could be better than Andrew Rannells in Kurt's eyes).

He listened to the opening notes, rather doorbells, of _Hello_ and that's when he saw him. Or at least he thought he saw him. No. No, it could not be. It could not be fucking him. Kurt sat up and leaned closer to the screen. Oh God, it was him. Sebastian Smythe. Kurt continued watching just to make sure. Maybe he was just a background Mormon. Yeah, that was it. That was the only reasonable explanation for why he was on stage.

No. No, no, no, no, no. He was Elder Price. _Sebastian Smythe_ was Elder Price. How the fuck did he land that role? Rachel was still doing off-Broadway shows and Meerkat was Elder Price. That made absolutely no sense. Kurt checked the upload date for the video and read the description. It had been recorded around two weeks ago. He stared at his TV screen in a mixture of awe and pure jealousy. He had paused the video just as the camera was zooming in on Sebastian's face. He had never really pictured Sebastian as a performer. Yeah, he was captain of the Warblers, but he didn't think that he took that role very seriously. Kurt assumed he would go to an Ivy League law school and ruin other people's happiness for money. Apparently, he was wrong. Sebastian was living out teenage Kurt's dreams of being a star.

Kurt reached for his phone, thinking of someone who would be just as shocked to learn of this revelation. He thought of texting Rachel, but he didn't want to bring her down by letting her know that one of their rivals was doing better than she was. She would never believe him anyway. Blaine would be ecstatic for his old friend rather than shocked and jealous. Blaine had forgiven Sebastian a little too soon for Kurt's liking after the other boy almost blinded him. Santana would just make some crude remark about the past Warbler. Though after she decided singing wasn't for her, he doubted that she would care that much. When he found that he couldn't share this news with anyone and receive the same reaction he had had, Kurt slumped back into the couch. Sebastian Smythe was a fucking Broadway star and Kurt had no one to tell. Instead, he called Santana and waited for her to pick up.

"Hey, Satan. Remember that favor you owe me? I want to cash in on that. I want _Book of Mormon_ tickets." Kurt said, a smile forming.

* * *

A/N: Been a long time since I wrote something. I apologize for any mistakes.


	2. Chapter 2

Kurt watched as his fellow audience members found their seats and settled in. He had arrived at the theatre early, hoping to accidently run into Sebastian, though he would never admit that. In retrospect, he knew it was stupid to expect to see the other boy in the men's room or lounging around in the lobby, but he couldn't help but hope.

He had to give props to Santana. With her connections, he was so close to the stage that he could probably make eye contact with Sebastian. He watched as the lights dimmed, the stage illuminated as guys in white shirts began to sing. He kept his eye out for Sebastian and found himself scowling when he spotted him. He hated that the first thought that popped into his head was how happy Sebastian looked onstage. He hated how Sebastian sang every song perfectly and how he couldn't stop himself from laughing at his character.

Kurt was proud of himself. He had made it through a decent chunk of the show before he couldn't handle it anymore. Sebastian had finished belting out the last lines of _I Believe_ , and Kurt had to get out. He was _good_. Honest to God, Sebastian was meant to be a performer. Kurt replayed parts of the musical in his mind as he cried in the men's bathroom. He had never wanted to play Elder Price, that was never really a goal of his. In fact, he had given up on becoming a Broadway star a long time ago. So why was he so upset that Sebastian had landed that role? Why was he upset over Sebastian Smythe in general?

This wasn't high school anymore and hiding in a bathroom stall crying was downright pathetic. He sniffled and wiped his tears away with the back of his hand. He had come here with a goal, and he intended on achieving that goal. He had cashed in his favor with Santana for this, he wasn't going to waste it. When he left the restroom, he discovered that he had missed the rest of the show, but that Sebastian was meeting with fans outside.

* * *

Sebastian Smythe was on top of the fucking world.

It had been another great show, and he had fans waiting for him outside of the theater for autographs and pictures. He had never had so many people so excited to meet him. He was currently talking to a young man who had flown from Alabama to see him perform because Sebastian was his _role model_. As he posed for a picture, he thought he saw a glimpse of a familiar face. Sure, his friends would come see his shows from time to time, even when he had small parts (No small parts, just small actors, Sebastian reminded himself). However, he had never had anyone from high school come see him perform, not that he was still in contact with anyone from high school. He was Facebook friends with some of the Warblers and of course Blaine, but he hadn't been on there for quite some time now.

Sebastian smiled and shook his fan's hand before thanking everyone who came out to the show. He still had his eyes on who he thought was Kurt Hummel. He watched as the man walked back into the theater, and Sebastian made his way through the dissipating crowd of people to follow him.

Why would Kurt Hummel come see his show? Surely, he had known that Sebastian was starring in it, his name was plastered on every advertisement. Even if Kurt was a Book of Mormon fan, he wouldn't want to see his old nemesis ruin it for him.

Sebastian eventually caught up to the man, who had led them to a quiet part of the theater. He took a good look at Kurt. He had grown taller, not enough to meet Sebastian's height but enough that he could comfortably look into his eyes while speaking. His hair was still styled in the same fashion with probably a liter of hair product in it. However, something was _off_. His blue eyes, which used to have some spark of ambition in them, didn't look the same. He had lost a lot of weight, enough to make Sebastian question if Kurt had eaten since high school. He gave Kurt a wide smile and held his hand out to shake it, "Kurt Hummel, how are you?"

Kurt's eyes moved from Sebastian's rather large smile down to his held-out hand. Sebastian was acting as though they were old buddies who played golf at the country club rather than high school enemies. He had taken one glace at him outside and decided that it wasn't the best idea to reunite with his enemy among crazy fans who loved him so much. He shook his hand weakly before looking back up at Sebastian's face, "I-I'm good. Yourself?"

"I'm great. Being on stage gives me so much energy." Sebastian chirped, noting Kurt's confusion. "Did you enjoy the show? I can sign that for you if you want." He offered, glancing down at Kurt's playbill.

Kurt shook his head, "That's alright. It was good. Not as good as the original cast, of course, but good nonetheless." He stared at Sebastian, still in costume, and the only thought he could fathom was how much the universe must hate him. Not only had it given Sebastian _his_ dream career, but it made him absolutely perfect. Did he just call Sebastian perfect? Oh God, something was seriously wrong with him. He realized that he had been staring at the other man for too long and tried to think of a question to ask an old enemy, but Sebastian had beat him to it.

Sebastian found himself smiling as Kurt stared at him, gawked really. He was proud of his success (and his good looks) but was never really one to brag about it. Sebastian from high school would have, but he had grown since that time. "So, _Princess_ ," He tried to pour as much snark as he could into that nickname for old time's sake, "What have you been up to? I haven't seen you since high school, so I'm going to assume that Broadway didn't work for you."

Kurt felt something twist his stomach in knots. Whether it was sadness, anger or jealousy, or some mixture of the three, he couldn't tell. "I'm a writer." He answered, his voice soft and riddled with insecurity. "For Vogue magazine." He added when Sebastian's expression prompted him for more information. However, there wasn't much more to tell the meerkat turned Broadway star.

Sebastian continued to smile as he listened to Kurt's response. Something was definitely wrong with Kurt. His tone screamed sixteen-year-old teen with self-esteem issues, but Kurt was a man in his late twenties who should be proud of such a position. "That's great, Kurt! I'll have to pick up an issue to read what you have to say about white button downs and black pants." He teased, pulling on his tie gently.

"Here, let me sign that for you, I insist. If everything works out, it'll go up in worth in a couple of years." He chuckled, taking Kurt's playbill from him and scribbling down his autograph. He returned it to Kurt and gave him another smile. "Hey, it's getting late. I gotta run, but it was fun seeing you."

Kurt watched as Sebastian walked away from him, still confused by the interaction he had just had with the man. He looked down at the playbill that Sebastian had signed for him. In addition to his autograph, Sebastian had taken the liberty of jotting down his phone number and a note:

 **Let's get coffee sometime, Princess. We can relive our high school days. -S**


End file.
